February 15: Minor league clubhouse

The Mets’ minor league clubhouse is stark and barren. The lockers close together. Not comfortable at all. Probably an incentive for the players to concentrate on moving up to better surroundings.

Moving on is the goal of every minor leaguer, and the room is decorated with incentives, from the banners of Mets’ playoff teams to jerseys of Gil Hodges, Casey Stengel and Tom Seaver, three of the most prominent names in club history.

There’s also three placards with these words: Choices, Decisions, Consequences.

To me, the most interesting thing I noticed was poster from the State of Florida, stating “Your rights under the Fair Labor Standard Act,” which includes the federal minimum wage.

This is where the Mets’ vets in town early dressed the past few days. It was amusing to think of David Wright walking past that sign.

John Delcos enters his third season covering the Mets for The Journal News after eight seasons on the Yankees beat. Prior to coming to New York, John covered the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Browns and Cleveland Indians.